Media: China to Crack Down on 'Chaotic' Online Religious Info

Believers take part in a weekend mass at an underground Catholic church in Tianjin, November 10, 2013.

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Media: China to Crack Down on 'Chaotic' Online Religious Info

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SHANGHAI —

China has drawn up new draft guidelines to crack down on the "chaotic" and illegal online promotion of religion, the official Global Times reported on Tuesday, part of a tough state campaign to bring religious worship into line.

All organizations engaged in the dissemination of religious information online will be obliged to apply for licenses from provincial religious affairs departments, the paper said, citing a policy document issued on Monday.

While the license will enable them to "preach and offer religious training", they will not be allowed to live-stream or broadcast religious activities. The dissemination of religious information anywhere other than their own internet platforms is also forbidden.

The guidelines also specifically prohibit online religious services from inciting subversion, opposing the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and promoting extremism and separatism.

Chinese citizens are theoretically free to practice any religion as long as it is officially recognized by the government. It has repeatedly cracked down on unauthorized religious activity, with authorities in Beijing shutting down a large Protestant church on Monday.

China has also been under heavy international scrutiny for its treatment of its mostly Muslim Uighur minority in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Human rights groups have accused the Chinese government of conducting a punitive crackdown that has seen the detention of as many as 1 million ethnic Uighurs in internment camps.